Me: I’m gonna write a book, it’ll be awesome. Or so I think. Turns out, book sucks. Because, you know, it’s my first. It’s me feeling my way through a dark cave wondering if I’ll ever get out alive. When I emerge two things are clear. One, I never want to do that alone again. And two, when I go back, I’m going to be packed with knowledge to navigate this confusing labyrinth. In truth, there are many tunnels, roads, whatever metaphor you want to pick, to travel. None is more right than the other. It’s about finding what works for you. Things that work for me: caffeine, quiet, poetry, reading books in the same genre that I write, but perhaps the biggest of all…creativity.

You can’t write a book without creativity. Creativity needs a release. It needs to climb mountains and bleed through the lyrics of music and rear its head in the activities of your day to day. It’s not something that magically comes with a laptop and a cup of coffee. In other words: get up and do something. Let creativity be a river that flows through the channels of your life. Join a writing group, have beta readers, splash amid ocean waves while the sun breaks itself across the sky like an egg, reread your favorite book, rediscover why it inspired you to write in the first place, whatever works. But know that it’s not always fun. It’s not always taking that vacation to the place you forever dreamed of visiting. It can be downright infuriating. Like a shitty childhood, a crap job that you hate, losing someone important to you. Use that to draw from. Evoke an emotion so powerful that it pours into the words and worlds you create. Make your readers cry. Make them laugh. Make them mad. Surprise them. Make them feel pain. I guarantee your book will be better because of it. Sometimes the darkest turmoil brings the brightest hope. But for Pete’s sake, give them hope. Give them something to cling to. Create a vice grip so tight that they’ll never escape the visions you paint with your words.

Once creativity has been given an outlet, write. Ideas are born the spawns of inspiration. Figure out what inspires you. Outline, if outlines work for you. Fly by the seat of your pants like something wild and unplanned, if that’s what makes you happy. Don’t be afraid to switch it up. I don’t know about you, but I get bored easily. My forthcoming book was written freely, nothing but my thoughts and a blank page joining hands. The book I’m currently writing is outlined chapter by chapter. It’s not the same every time. At least not for me. I need room to roam freely with my imaginary characters, knowing that the next novel won’t ever be exactly like the last. Nor will the process. But the backbone never changes. Always creativity.

Oh, my lucky stars BOOK SOMETHING OR OTHER is finished! What next? Edit. Revise. Edit again. Let someone else watch—edit—your baby for you. It’s hard, I know. Really, I do. It’s mine. I don’t like to share. Give it back. This book rocks! I’m the worst author ever. I should write more novels. What was I thinking? Enough novels to fill all the shelves in every bookstore around the world! They’re gonna hate it. I’m amazing! This is 100% natural, the thoughts that creep into your mind like a pesky spider that weaves webs of doubt and mixed emotions. Deep breath. Wait. Read their comments. Fix problem areas. Edit again. Polish that manuscript so bright that it shines from miles away. Then query agents.

Rejection sucks. Period. Know that it’ll happen and it’ll be as though a thousand angry wasps are stinging the shit out of you. Let it happen. Don’t swat them away. Don’t build a tolerance to the sting. The sting of rejection is a motivator to become a better writer. Agent input is gold. Even if it comes in the form of a rejection. Use it. Make changes. Query others. Maybe someone will reply with a yes! Maybe not. Less than 1% of writers are agented. Self publishing and small publishers are always an option. If that book is meant to stay in your document folder for all of eternity, move on. Write another one. Or two. Or five. Discover your creative muses and transform them into something beautiful. Remember, rejection is not the same thing as failure. Rejection is a catalyst for greatness. Failure is what happens when the catalyst, by the author’s choice, dies.

Amber Hart is the author if the forthcoming YA contemporary novel,

She’s represented by Beth Miller of Writers House. To learn more, visit her online HERE

Sneak peek into her new novel, BEFORE YOU.